Shattered Perception
by Nuke F. Montagne
Summary: Everything’s just peachy for Loren aka. Bane, until one-not-so-wonderful day she gets sucked into the world of ‘Vampire Hunter D’. Jeez. Freaky much? R&R.
1. Loren, a brief biography

Title: Shattered Perception  
  
Author: (Dra) Mika  
  
Rating: PG, pg-13  
  
Feedback: will be read over and over and over with a none-diminishing feeling of awe and thankfulness. Feed the starving artist!  
  
Summary: Loren, known as Bane, is your average teenager. except she hardly gets along with anyone, is considered insane and has a knack for getting to people, be that using mental or physical advances. So everything's just peachy, until one-not-so-wonderful day she gets sucked into the world of 'Vampire Hunter D'.  
  
Disclaimer: Vampire Hunter D does not belong to me, however Bane is a product of my admittedly feverish imagination.  
  
Author's Note: Guys, this is merely an experiment, and I have NO idea where I'm going with this. I might update a couple of times a week and then not write anything for months. Suggestions are VERY welcome. In addition, the title really sucks. If you have any ideas as to what I should change it into *shrugs* .you know the drill.  
  
WARNING: as one of the fanfic writers on this site said - I am cursed with the curse of detail. I cannot help but describe EVERYTHING. I'm terribly sorry about the inconvenience, but you'll just have to bear with me. Read on.  
  
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Prologue: --Loren, the sheer audacity of her, and a not-so-brief biography--  
  
Loren, otherwise commonly known as Bane, sighed for just about the millionth time and mused on the subject as too why, exactly, she bothered with all this crap, as she tugged on a lock of hair with such distress that she threatened to tear it out. She winced.  
  
Summer holidays sucked. Bigtime. They were so damn -booooring-. And the worst thing? No on gave a flying fuck.  
  
She continued to sulk and brood as she popped a DVD into the computer. She propped her chin on her hands, not sure what to expect from the anime. The now-empty red plastic case on the table read 'vampire hunter d: bloodlust'. And there seemed nothing wrong with it... except for the fact that the figure on the cover... *moved*. An illusion? Perhaps. And perhaps not. She blinked and assumed that she was simply tired.  
  
And here it starts. She broke one of the main rules of Life As We Know It: NEVER ASSUME.  
  
Bane hit the 'play' button.  
  
********  
  
The girl was disappointed that the. movie (?) ended so fast. She really truly was, since this was one of the few things that actually interested her at moment. She enjoyed watching it. Thus, sighing yet *again* she put the DVD back in the case and went to sleep...  
  
All was calm.  
  
All was well.  
  
But was it, truly? And would it last?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Loren woke up, sitting up abruptly in the bed, sweaty, terrified, and feeling the urge to punch something. She swore using a couple of choice words that would make her parents gasp in horror and looked at the glowing red numbers on her alarm clock. 5: 33 am.  
  
The numbers seemed... ominous. Or something. Why? No apparent reason. After all what was so terrifying about them? 5: 33. They didn't even symbolize anything.  
  
Did they? No, of course not. Silly question.  
  
Scowling, she mentally yelled at herself to get over it, and tried to remember what the dream was about. She nearly succeeded.... nearly. It still slipped away. She realized that this was the 13th time she had this particular dream.  
  
After taking a deep breath, she regained (most of) her wit and chuckled, although rather nervously. She then said to herself 'That's IT! Get OVER yourself, Black! You're just being a silly bint - nothing's gonna happen!' she trailed off. 'Nothing's gonna happen.' She repeated and the pathetic questioning tone on the end was obvious even to her.  
  
'Fucking coward' she muttered, her whole demeanor changing as she hid behind her mask. Hauling her ass out of the bed, she accepted the fact that she wasn't going to be able to sleep anymore this night, and slunk over to the mirror in the bathroom, examining her appearance.  
  
She dragged a hand through her midnight-black tresses, fingering the sunset- colored streaks in it. This, perhaps, was one of the oddest things about her. Born that way, it seemed as if her hair was once the blackest of black. before someone dumped a bucket of color, reminiscent of the sunset, on her head, leaving the streaks all over the place, in a chaotic order of sorts. All in all she could've passed for a normal person. until she opened her eyes. The above mentioned were a startling, almost fluorescent, luminous orange. (She faintly recalled one of the doctors the family went to calling it a mutation, deformity, not unlike her hair. However, she rather liked the unusual color, thank you very much). The pupils were rather slit-like and after combining that with her hypnotically gracious movements, petite frame, pale skin with a network of silvery scars, you would get what looked like a snake-like human. Add a sharp cynical mind, a biting tongue, excellent acting skills, and -viola! - you shall get Loren 'Bane' Cecilia Jacqueline Ishtaar Black.  
  
Her parents... Ah. That was a touchy subject. Mother was Egyptian, and behaved herself like royalty. Loren sighed. Her mother wasn't a bad person, just... annoying. Father... his nationality unknown, he was ridiculously wealthy, rather good looking. and his temper was legendary. Both of them were very self-centered and rarely saw their daughter.  
  
She blinked and looked at the clock again. 6: 45. Time just flew by.  
  
She made her bed, ignoring the protests that the maid made just yesterday... as she did nearly all the time. Bane simply didn't like the idea of someone doing all the work for her.  
  
She then turned her mind to more immediate matters. Grabbing the remote control off her desk she switched her boom box on. Humming along to one of her favorite songs, 'plenty' by Sarah McLaughlin, (A/N: get the CD, people! It's bloody incredible!) she put her bathrobe on and went to the bathroom, pulling her loose pants up on the way.  
  
As she came back she made yet another effort to shove aside the events of earlier this morning. She nearly succeeded. She plopped down on the now neat bed and proceeded to read one of her favorite fantasy/ science fiction novel, which she picked up from the library a few days ago. Without further a due she (or, more accurately, her mind) escaped to the world that the author painted, where anything was possible...  
  
********  
  
It was already 12: 30 pm. Ra. Now THAT was surprising. She yawned and then sauntered over to her wardrobe. After pulling out and putting on a button up charcoal grey shirt, a pair of black designer slacks, and soft grey wool coat, she tugged on her favorite leather boots in addition to her usual accessories - sunglasses (so as not to scare the shit out everybody she looked at) a silver watch with an orange face (notice the irony!), bracelet, and necklace.  
  
She was just about to go, when something stopped her. She felt the bizarre urge to pack a bag. Scowling, Bane tried to remember whether her parents mentioned about going anywhere that holiday. She then decided that it wouldn't hurt to pack just in case.  
  
At first she only chose the bare essentials such as her undergarments, toothbrush, hairbrush and money. Then, after a moment of thought she also chose quite a few of neatly folded button up shirts, pairs of pants, socks, and chocolate bars (naturally). She then walked over to her bookshelf and after moving a few things out of the way unearthed two antique, beautifully made daggers, which she also put in the big leather backpack. She also shoved her laptop in it's case and a couple of CD's in. With that over with, she bounded down the stairs, grabbed her keys, yelled a loud 'bye', and left.  
  
All in all, if you overlooked her dreams, this odd occurrence, plus a couple of hallucinations it seemed as if this holiday would be no different from the others...  
  
No one noticed the luminous white light emanating from the innocent looking DVD case on her desk, as it transferred to the bag the girl just packed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A few minutes later, Bane raced back up the stairs, having forgotten the DVD. She noticed that it was now on the bag she packed. Frowning she came closer, and hesitated before reaching for the case. Her lips curled in slight disgust as she shook off her momentary stupor and grabbed the case. She felt an electric shock.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
Sighing in relief, she came even closer.  
  
And just as she touched the bag..  
  
Everything went black.  
  
And then she was falling.  
  
falling.  
  
falling.  
  
Thump.  
  
Thump.  
  
Thump.  
  
BOOM ...  
  
She fainted.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Author's Note: how do you like it so far? Should I continue? Is Loren an interesting character? Too much detail? Too little? Need explanations? Please contact me and tell me what you think and what you want. This is will be a Loren/ D fic most -probably-.  
  
Hit the damn Review button! Please! Even if it's just one word! Come ON! 


	2. And thus they meet

Title: Shattered Perception  
  
Author: Dramicka  
  
Rating: pg-13 for now  
  
Disclaimer: Vampire Hunter D does not belong to me, however Bane is a product of my admittedly feverish imagination.  
  
Author's Note: Thanks to my first 2 reviewers! Phoenix521 and Kitala. I suppose you can say that this next chapter is for you two.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 2: --And thus they meet.--  
  
Bane groaned.  
  
She opened her eyes and shut them immediately, hiding from the glaring light. Sunlight, she figured. But. that didn't make sense.  
  
She remained still, and continued to breath deeply and evenly as she contemplated her situation. She figured it was safe to say that she wasn't home anymore. She cast her senses around, and heard rustling. the kind of rustling that you would hear in a. a forest?  
  
This, as far as she was concerned was NOT normal. even for her. Bloody hell.. Seriously, what's with all the bright flashy lights?  
  
"I know that you're now awake," said a melodious voice.  
  
"And how do you know that, you." she grumbled, and peeked, first with one eye, then with the other, not wanting to be blinded like last time. She then trailed off, staring. It was. it was.  
  
It was the one the guys from the anime, her inner voice thingy supplied. Vampire Hunter D. Quite good-looking, actually.  
  
"Sekhmet, damn this. I'm now officially crazy," she muttered. "Took me long enough to go bonkers. Oh, yes. Indeed-y. Now, everywhere I go, I'm probably going to see my dear imaginary friends. And. talk to them. Yeah. I'm really in a white padded room with other lunatics, drooling on my pillow, and straining against the bonds. That's probably it. " She blinked. "I'm babbling aren't I? That's cause I'm panicking. I don't panic often. Really, I don't. Ra."  
  
She fainted again.  
  
**********************  
  
The man standing a few feet away from her, closed his mouth, which was previously open, in shock.  
  
"That was unexpected' he murmured.  
  
The strange creature in his hand made a muffled squeak that sounded suspiciously like a snort of laughter, and drawled, "You can say that again."  
  
**********************  
  
Loren woke up for the second time at nightfall and stared at the person, who appeared to be sleeping, while leaning against a tree, not a few feet away from her.  
  
She sighed.  
  
"I was hoping this was just a bad dream' she whispered.  
  
Bane then took a closer look, and realized that she wasn't mistaken. The strange did, indeed, resemble the dhampire she watched a movie about a day (?) ago. Was it really only a day? How could she tell?  
  
Deciding to worry about all that and other things in the morning, she looked around, just in case, and saw that she in a forest, or, more accurately, in a clearing in a forest. Doesn't matter. She was sleepy, and woe to the one who would dare and try to wake her up tomorrow.  
  
Yawning, she reached for her bag, shoved it under her head and went back to sleep.  
  
Absently, she registered that she was -way- too calm for this kind of situation, but she just didn't have the energy to deal with it right now.  
  
**********************  
  
D lazily opened one eye, hearing the girl's words. As opposed to what she thought, he wasn't sleeping, merely resting. She was an odd one, he had to give her that. Yawning, he unknowingly copied her and fell into a light sleep for once untroubled by his nightmares.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Loren woke up, opening her still glazed eyes that were still covered with the sunglasses, sat up and stretched, wincing a bit as she felt her joints creak. Pleasantly surprised, she thought of the fact that she woke up on her own, and had no nightmares. She wiped the dew off of her face and proceeded to pick leaves, grass, and Ra-knows-what out of her hair.  
  
Waaaaaaaaait, a second!.  
  
Grass?  
  
Leaves?  
  
Dew?  
  
Yesterday's events came rushing back. Oh. Shit. She looked towards the shade the trees provided and noticed yesterday's stranger standing there and just looking at her.  
  
They stared at each other for a few silent minutes, their eyes unreadable, Loren's, because of her dark glasses, and D's because of his ever-present hat.  
  
D looked away first.  
  
And smirking, Bane said dryly, "Good morning to you too," before walking towards the sound of water running, leaving D, as she inwardly dubbed him (A/N: *rolls eyes* clueless much, Loren?), once again flabbergasted.  
  
**********************  
  
D stared, as she walked. no, as she -stalked- (she moved like a snake, he absently said to himself) away, speechless. He seemed to be doing that a lot with her around.  
  
He didn't even know her name!  
  
The parasite on his hand snickered. "Smooth, D, real smooth"  
  
Well, what he was he supposed to do?  
  
And who -was- she, anyways?  
  
**********************  
  
Bane came back a few minutes later, and crouched by her bag, going through it calmly, looking for a few things. She ignored D, until he cleared his throat, meaning to get her attention.  
  
"Do you have something lodged in your throat?' she asked innocently, her voice syrupy sweet. She just arched an eyebrow at his slightly startled look.  
  
Someone chuckling.  
  
She pretended not to have noticed the odd sound, pretty sure she imagined it. In reality she knew that she wasn't acting normal, she was completely calm, even though she was in the middle of no-where with someone she didn't know.  
  
She continued to watch -him- carefully. Suddenly noticing something in the bushes on the edge of her peripheral vision, she whirled around, dagger already in hand. From the corner of her eyes, she saw him rear back, just as she threw the knife. Something squeaked. She smiled with satisfaction and prowled over. She grabbed the tiny dead animal by the long furry tail. It resembled a mouse, only bigger and rather. well, -bird-like-, actually.  
  
-He- was now frowning, ever so slightly. Aha, said the nasty little inner- voice thingy, now reappearing, here we go.  
  
He started towards her.  
  
**********************  
  
She threw the dead pest back into the bushes, feeling rather stupid due to the way she overreacted. Steeling herself, she turned around.  
  
And stared. Could he walk any -slower-?!  
  
Loren rolled her eyes, sighed, and sat back on her haunches, unthinkingly taking her sunglasses off.  
  
He stopped, gaping at the neon orange orbs.  
  
"Fuck," she muttered, realizing what he was staring at. Maybe later, the little voice drawled. She felt like a schizophrenic with a split personality.  
  
He was still silent.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: ok, that's it. Sorry, people, I know it sucked; it was short, and badly written. I also need a beta, anyone willing? I just didn't know what to do! Now tell me should Loren and D get along? Should they scream bloody- murder at each other? Come on, tell me what you want! R&R, guys! 


	3. The Conversation

Title: Shattered Perception  
  
Author: Dramicka  
  
Rating: pg-13 for now  
  
Disclaimer: Vampire Hunter D does not belong to me, however Bane is a product of my admittedly feverish imagination.  
  
Thanks to all the people who bothered to leave a note and review! Most of this chapter is dedicated top KdZeal whom I have been neglecting, and who has beta'd for me! You are sooooo great!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Chapter 2: --The Conversation (Holy hell, she updated!).--  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Well, taking the sunglasses off was a Big Mistake (yes, with capitals), she admitted that. But, come -on-. Seriously, -look- at -him-! What's with the hat and the sword and the cloak and the . . . yeah. She was ranting.  
  
Also the whole killing the squirrelly thing wasn't helping.  
  
He probably thought that she was a paranoid, insane girl with an attitude from hell and IQ of a chimpanzee (that comment is arguable, since it has never been proven that this specific type of monkey(s) was stupid. They certainly seemed clever, with all the bananas and the throwing stuff at humans deal. So, technically, that was strictly her meager contribution . . . her opinion, in other words)  
  
Bane carefully studied what little of the man's face she could see and was relieved to notice that his mouth (and what a delectable mouth it was, added the little voice. Shut up!) was not slack in horrified fascination and disgust.  
  
On the other hand, it was hard to judge, due to the fact that She only saw the lower part of his face, and He had one of those faces when it was impossible to tell what the owner was thinking - it was completely blank.  
  
Oh, bloody hell.  
  
**********************  
  
Well. Well. Well.  
  
At least that answers his question - the female is most definitely -not- human. Big surprise there.  
  
D snorted mentally.  
  
Considering his luck she was probably a hostile, rabid, crazed human- looking -thing- that wanted to kill him.  
  
Ha. Ha. Ha. Funny.  
  
Not.  
  
On the bright side (yeah. Right. Whatever.), the hand was silent. Thank god for little things.  
  
**********************  
  
Loren winced on the inside as she watched him watch her and move closer, in careful little steps, as if with a rabid animal.  
  
She wasn't a freak, damnit! . . . Fine. She was. But that's sort of beside the point.  
  
She sighed and sat down on the grass looking up at him with the best innocent/ vulnerable expression she could manage. Which was quite effective considering she had a lot of occasions to practice it and the way he relaxed a bit.  
  
"I don't bite," she finally said.  
  
He looked vaguely startled by that, seemingly resisting the urge to ask 'oh, really?' or something like that.  
  
She patted the grass next to her with the words 'down, boy' on her mind.  
  
However, what she said was simply:  
  
"Sit down. I'd like to have a chat, if you don't mind."  
  
**********************  
  
Mind? Of course, not. Anything goes as long as she doesn't go about the whole teeth-baring, throat-ripping-out routine thing.  
  
He gracefully lowered himself to a crouch after which he (with incredible flexibility) managed to settle down in a lotus like position. Without all the panting and leg-putting-upping, that is.  
  
"You don't talk much do you?" the girl finally said after a few moments of silence.  
  
"No. No, I don't suppose I do. There weren't many opportunities"  
  
"Ah."  
  
Silence.  
  
"I feel your pain".  
  
He frowned at her "Pardon?"  
  
"It's a figure of speech. A metaphor."  
  
"Ah."  
  
"Yeah".  
  
Silence.  
  
"I'm Bane" and oh, how suiting that was said the little voice, as she offered her name.  
  
"D'  
  
**********************  
  
Bane stared at him, reassessing her judgment of his sanity.  
  
"You're kidding me. You think you can fool me into believing that you're the guy from the movie. I mean sure, you look like him and all that crap, but -really-. D is this vampire hunter who is actually half vampire himself and he has this weird parasite thing on his hand and . . ."  
  
She blinked as the guy next to her sputtered and tried to say something, before taking a deep, calming breath.  
  
"How do you -know- all that?!" he finally managed to force out.  
  
All she could do was once again stare, slack jawed.  
  
"No way. No fucking way" she replied weakly.  
  
She thought furiously for a few moments, before uttering:  
  
"Show me your hand." She was positive that he would try to weasel his way out of that or something like that, however he just frowned, or as much as one like could frown and began taking his glove off.  
  
She gaped. -No way-.  
  
He took it off and she gawked at he little face on his left palm.  
  
"Yes fucking way," she nearly whispered.  
  
"Hello to you, too," replied the visage sarcastically.  
  
"Goodness. Where are my manners? Please accept my apologies. I am Bane and it is a pleasure meeting you."  
  
"Likewise, I'm sure," said the parasite with infinite satisfaction at having achieved what its host could not.  
  
D snorted.  
  
"Yes, well, this is a delightful conversation, and all that but I would like to know how did it happen that you just appeared from thin air."  
  
"How I just -what-?"  
  
"Appeared."  
  
"You're kidding me."  
  
"I'm afraid not. I was just going about on my business the exact nature of which is not relevant, in this forest, here, when there was a shriek precisely beyond the range of my vision, which incidentally was the cause of my looking up.  
  
"Imagine my shock as I found a female, you, actually, in the air above, pummeling straight at me from a portal of sorts, right through the branches and all that. I somehow ended up catching you. Then your bag fell out of the portal and landed on my head-"  
  
"Which was definitely a site worth seeing" interrupted the hand gleefully.  
  
Ignoring the comment, D continued "- confusing me even further. So I came here and put you down, waiting until you woke and explained all of this . . .  
  
"However, judging from the expression on your face I'd have to say that you have just about as much of an idea as do I. I suppose it figures" he sighed like the broody vampire hunter he was.  
  
Loren, however, was already -miles- away.  
  
"I remember going up the stairs . . . I think I forgot something in the house" she said idly, cocking her head, and narrowing her eyes, now opaque, and glazed as she tried to recall. "And then I touched something.  
  
"Then there were -colors-. They swirled, and spun. It was too bright, too . . . too real. And it was bizarre at the same time. And it -hurt-. You could feel them. Some were hot, some were cold, some were there and yet -not- there. Some were full and others were empty." She shuddered in fright at the memory of the -fall-.  
  
" Bright colors gathered in beautiful patterns . . . and then they -burst- . . . like . . . like the stars. In the sky.  
  
"Like the stars in the night sky. Or the sun. Or dynamite." She repeated.  
  
"They disappeared and reappeared and then . . . and they -hit- me. They were . . . you could -feel- them. Some were soothing and some weren't.  
  
"And after that . . . it was black.  
  
"Dark.  
  
"Still.  
  
"Eerily quiet.  
  
"I'm not sure how much time passed. It might've been a second, it might've been an hour, and it might've been a century. I don't think I'll -ever- know." She silenced and glanced hopelessly at D, fear still obvious in her eyes.  
  
"I don't think I -want- to ever know."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: *coaxes* Click the magic button, my friends! Pleaaaaaase!!!! 


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